After almost exactly a full year since the release of the first 40-minute Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay video in 2018, CD Projekt Red has at last given fans another look at the game in action. Today’s video is an almost 15-minute guided look at a portion of gameplay; showcasing a new area of Night City and several different playstyles available to players.
The Cyberpunk 2077 Gameplay Demo – Deep Dive Video
The new Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo is reportedly an edited-down version of the demo shown first behind closed doors at E3, and more recently, to attendees at Gamescom. Presumably, the full video would have featured more uninterrupted gameplay; the final video mostly shows snippets of gameplay focusing on specific topics; character creation, entering the net, the new area, etc. As promised by CD Projekt Red, the video introduces a major new district of Night City; Pacifica.
We now know that this part of the city is mostly unfinished, as investors pulled out of many building projects during a financial recession. As a result, Pacifica is littered with deserted building sites and has become a haven for criminals. The demo also introduces two of the gangs that are operating in Pacifica; the Voodoo Boys, who seem to play a major role in the game’s story, and their rivals, the Animals. Although the Animals may not call Pacifica their home, they do have an ongoing operation in the district which the player will have to investigate.
As a result, we got a few glimpses of combat in the new Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo, including a boss-fight against the Animals’ leader Sasquatch. We also saw the introduction of Netwatch, a major law enforcement faction which has only briefly mentioned for the first time recently. Tasked with policing the Net, Netwatch are enemies of the Voodoo Boys, a gang of skillful Netrunners. Evidently, confronting a Netwatch agent is a part of the story in Pacifica. However, what their connection to the Animals is, if indeed there is one, is hazy. Whatever the case, when the player attempted to hack into the agent’s neural implant, they seemed to trigger a failsafe which responded rapidly. It’s unclear whether this killed her or left her incapacitated. Certainly, earlier in the demo, V hacks an enemy and causes them to kill themselves; indicating that it’s possible to kill remotely via cyberware.
What’s Next for Cyberpunk in 2019?
Johnny Silverhand and certain other key characters, including Placide and Brigitte, also featured in the demo. However, their roles were relatively minimal, particularly in the case of Silverhand. Once again, their scenes may have played out longer in the full version of the demo. Currently, it’s unknown exactly why CD Projekt Red chose to release an edited-down version of the Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay demo rather than the full video, as they did last year. Whatever the case, the game is now less than a year away from release. In fact, it’s just under 8 months’ away. Certainly, fans can likely expect to see much more of the upcoming game in 2020. Whether CD Projekt Red will release any more promotional material this year is unclear. After all, they have a track record of releasing very little and allowing hype to do the rest.